The number of employees trained under the NJBIA Basic Skills Training Program increased by 70 percent in the last fiscal year (July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017) and improved workforce skills for more than 1,000 participating businesses, according to a year-end report.

The program provides classes at county community colleges in communications, computer skills, English as a second language, mathematics and Spanish at no cost to the employer. It’s part of a partnership between NJBIA, the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the NJ Community College Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development.

By the Numbers

Last year, the program provided training to 17,186 employees from 1,068 companies. In FY 2016, the program provided training for 9,991 employees.

In all, the county colleges held 1,274 classes. The most classes, 619, were offered for computer skills, but the most participants, 8,056, enrolled in communication classes. The biggest jump was in English as a second language, which saw a 156 percent increase in enrollment. (Read the full report here.)

How It Works

Community college instructors customize their course offerings to address the specific needs of individual companies. For businesses that have at least 15 employees in need of training as a group, training can be done at the workplace. However, an individual employee or small groups of employees can get training at nearby county colleges by joining an open-enrollment class.

The report also included a number of testimonials from businesses that participated in the program.

Franchisee Anthony D’Amore held a series of soft skills training sessions for store managers. “America Runs on Dunkin: And Dunkin Donuts franchises run with NJBIA grant-funded training!” he said.

Lisa Slater of Parker Memorial Homes appreciated that training could be done at the workplace. “Having educational programs delivered on-site, at times that are convenient to an employee’s work/life balance is a wonderful advantage,” she said.

Joe Marano of Suez North America added, “…given the constant need to do things more efficiently, being able to utilize the NJBIA grant has enabled us to provide a number of programs it would have taken us more time to provide due to the costs that can be involved.”